Corey Oates joins Brisbane bulging casualty ward after sickening concussion

THE Broncos are sweating on the return of captain Darius Boyd after winger Corey Oates joined a growing injury list that threatens to crush Brisbane’s premiership dream.

Darius Boyd will return against the Storm. Picture: Adam Head

THE Broncos are sweating on the return of captain Darius Boyd after winger Corey Oates joined a bulging casualty ward that threatens to crush Brisbane’s premiership dream.

Oates is in danger of missing next Friday’s blockbuster preliminary final against Melbourne after suffering a sickening concussion in Friday night’s 13-6 elimination final win over the Panthers.

The towering Oates was in blistering touch, scoring a 55m solo try before being knocked senseless in a freak friendly fire incident with teammate Anthony Milford.

Oates, 22, lay motionless on the Suncorp Stadium turf for several minutes before being taken off the field in a medivac.

Corey Oates is stretchered off.

He was cleared of serious injury, however the apparent severity of the concussion has put Oates in doubt for the grand final qualifier at AAMI Park.

Veteran forward Sam Thaiday and young prop Jai Arrow also suffered a head knocks late in the game.

Broncos coach Wayne Bennett said he expected Oates, Thaiday and Arrow to be available to face the Storm.

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“The three of them will be right to play next week,” he said.

“They are all conscious. We’ve got a seven-day turnaround.

“They don’t have a history of head knocks. I’m pretty confident.”

The Broncos have defied the odds over the past seven weeks to progress to the final four in the competition.

They lost inspirational hooker Andrew McCullough to a season-ending knee injury in round 21 and have had little luck since.

Bench forward Tevita Pangai Jr (hamstring) has played one of the past four matches and the Broncos lost starting prop Korbin Sims to a broken arm in the penultimate round of the regular season.

Sims was thought to be sidelined for the remainder of the season but he holds hope of making a fairytale appearance if the Broncos progress to the October 1 grand final.

Brisbane’s biggest problem remains Boyd’s hamstring.

The fullback suffered a minor tear in Brisbane’s final round clash against North Queensland, missing last week’s Roosters final, and failed to prove his fitness for the sudden-death Panthers game.

Darius Boyd will return against the Storm. Picture: Adam Head

Boyd was close to facing Penrith but could not guarantee making it through the entire contest.

Close enough may have to be good enough when it comes to the Melbourne game because there will be no tomorrow if the Broncos fail.

“He’s going to be very close,” Bennett said of Boyd.

“It will be another week for him (to recover).

“We’d like him back but we’ll wait and see.”

Boyd’s return would allow Kodi Nikorima, who finished the game with his knee strapped, to return to halfback and Benji Marshall to bring experience from the bench.

The Broncos did what was needed without Boyd last night but they will need all hands on deck to have any chance of overcoming the dominant Melbourne Storm and keeping their dreams of a seventh title alive.